3 Methods to Delete Photos from iPhone but Keep on iCloud

Updated Aug 27,2019 | by Thea

Every Apple products user must know the feature of iCloud photo library which keeps your entire photo up to date on all your iOS devices by signing to the same Apple ID as long as you enabled the feature on. So, any changes on in your photo library on your iPhone or iPad will automatically change the same on your iCloud. Simply to say, one place changes, everywhere changes.

The original intention of this feature was to allow users to browse and view pictures in a more convenient way. However, for some users, this advantage can sometimes turn into a disadvantage. Especially when they're cleaning up some temporally useless photos that they just want to remove from the iPhone but not from iCloud. Therefore, lots of users are looking for a way to delete photos from iPhone or iPad but still keep them on iCloud.

Frankly, Apple does not offer the silver bullet to allow you to delete photos from iPhone yet preserving them on iCloud. Fortunately, there’s always a way for a will. 3 methods introduced in the follow-up text will show you how to delete photos from iPhone but not iCloud without disobeying any rules and protocol.

As mentioned at the very beginning, because of the feature of iCloud photo library which results in photos deleted from iPhone will also be removed from iCloud. That’s why people looking for a solution to this issue. The most direct or maybe also stupidest way is to disable iCloud photo library. Once this feature is disenabled, everything you do to a photo on your iPhone won’t be mirrored to iCloud and to any other iOS devices or Macs that have the library enabled.

Another workable method is to sign in to your iPhone with a new iCloud account. After uploading your iPhone photos to an old Apple ID afterward sign out and sign in with another new Apple ID. Now, you can delete all iPhone photos without losing them from your previous iCloud. And you can still access the deleted photos from your other devices that signed in with your old Apple ID. This also can be an alternative way to expand free iCloud storage.

It is possible to save iPhone space yet still share photos by storing them in iCloud without using a new iCloud account or stop using iCloud photo library. Think about it, because the sync functionality between the iOS device and iCloud leads to a slight move in one part affect the situation as a whole. Imagine that, if you don't sync photos from your iPhone to iCloud, that won't be a problem. So all you have to do is export your iPhone photos to your computer then upload them to iCloud. There are 2 ways to make it.

Note: First of all, you need to export all your iPhone photos to computer and then follow the methods below to upload photos to iCloud. After that, delete the photos from your iPhone.

Way 1: Sync Photos to iCloud on Web

Steps 1: Open a browser on your computer and go to iCloud.com.

Steps 2: Sign in your Apple ID and select Photos.

Steps 3: Click the Upload icon.

Step 4: Browse and select your iPhone photos and click the Open button to start uploading them from your computer to iCloud.

After uploading all your iPhone photos to iCloud, then you can delete photos from your iPhone without worries. As long as you enable iCloud Photo Library, you’ll see these photos still show up on your iPhone but not consume any storage.

Way 2: Upload Photos to iCloud via an iCloud Photo Manager [Free & Faster]

Besides, you can easily upload all iPhone photos from computer to iCloud by using a FREE iCloud photo manager, which can help you make it with faster speed and bring more convenience such as delete all iCloud photos at once, download iCloud photos quickly, manage iCloud photos smartly, make animated GIFs with iCloud photos without hassle, etc. More than anything, it’s totally free for you. Let’s see how to make it with this all-in-one iPhone software - IOTansfer.

Step 1: Download and install IOTransfer on your computer then launch it. Select TOOLS.

Step 2: Select iCloud Photo Manager and sign in with your Apple ID.

Step 3: Click the Upload button, browse and open your iPhone photos for uploading.

Note: You can use IOTransfer to easily export all iPhone photos to computer with 1 click.

The Bottom Line

After reading this post, now you’re clear about how to delete photos from your iPhone but not iCloud. That’s easy to make it. Actually, saving photos to iCloud but not iPhone is indeed a smart way to save iPhone storage. But you know that iCloud has limited 5 G storage for free, if you want to keep this all the time, you need to buy more iCloud storage plans. 

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